


Tale of the Goat

by RomytheRed



Series: How to Live With Dying: A series of Short Stories [5]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Chara sort of does too?, Death, Frisk has PTSD, Gen, Mute Frisk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-16 07:59:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5820508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RomytheRed/pseuds/RomytheRed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Many years ago... A child fell down a hole, and awoke on a bed of golden flowers.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Screaming.</em>
</p><hr/><p>You always have to face the consequences of your actions, and deal with your fears.</p><p>Frisk isn't the only one who's having trouble getting used to life on the surface.</p><hr/>
            </blockquote>





	Tale of the Goat

**Author's Note:**

> Chronologically, this occurs before part 4.
> 
> * * *

_Many years ago... A child fell down a hole, and awoke on a bed of golden flowers._

_Screaming._

  


_Why were they screaming? A multitude of reasons, but the most prolific was that they hadn't intended to wake up at all._

_Instead, they woke up in pain. The exact thing they were hoping to end. And there was no end to the pain in sight. So what did they do?_

  


_They followed their instincts. They cried for help._

_And help came, **in the form of a young monster child.**_

  


_The monster's family took the child in, and they lived happily, for a time. The child, however, never felt as though they deserved such kindness._

_Thus, when the child learned of a way to free the monsters from the mountain, they told their plan to their adopted brother, their best friend... the monster child that saved them._

_The child would die, and the monster would use their soul to find 6 more, and to break the barrier once and for all._

  


_The plan failed._

_The king lost two children in a single night._

  


_**Alas, twas not to be the end of the children's tale.** _

* * *

_The monster child awoke. A monster, no longer._

_Or perhaps, still one, but not in the sense of which they previously used the word._

  


_A true **Monster** now._

  


_Soulless, without feeling. Without true emotion. Unable to feel "happiness" or "sadness". Always searching for a way to fill the gaping void inside._

_Not a combination that fits well with the Power._

_The Power of **SAVE.**_

  


_What does one do, when their actions have no consequences? When they are unbound by moral tenets? By feelings? By emotions?_

_**Whatever they want. Whatever they can think of. Whatever they have the strength to.**_

  


_Simple curiosity led to the first step. And without anything to hold them back, that step was naught but a leap, straight into the abyss._

_They had already been unable to stop, right from the start._

  


And so they **Killed**. And **Killed, and killed, and killed, and killed, and killed.**

_Until one day, one day..._

_The Power left them. They could no longer **SAVE.**_

  


_But another... could._

_A new toy. A new playmate. A new ~~\- no, an old Friend~~!_

_The **Monster** watched as the child struggled. As they tried to be kind. To help others. To love._

_The **Monster** would use that part of them. It would use the child's kindness against them._

_Use their_ Friends _against them._

_The plan succeeded, of course. How could it not? That poor, pathetic fool was far too soft. This world was **Kill or Be Killed** , after all. The **Monster** was Whole, once more. _

_But with the hole in them filled, Emotion... Feeling... All that which the monster had lost, returned. And with them... Regret. Sadness. Understanding._

  


_Longing._

  


_The monster was but a child once more... Grieving for the loss of his closest friend, and himself. And the human, so familiar, yet so different, could do naught but comfort the mourner._

_Or so it should have gone. The monster child would eventually return to being a **Monster** , after all._

_But somehow, against all odds, the human had succeeded in truly SAVEing both the child... and another._

_The one they had thought lost._

_But the toll had been taken on all of them, already. And thus..._

* * *

"Thus... we arrive here, huh?" The skeleton said, staring straight into your eyes.

"...Yeah. Pretty much." You answered. Frisk and Chara were sitting nearby, hugging. It was cute, honestly, and you were a little jealous. But you didn't deserve to be part of that right now.

  


"W-wait... so... so that flower we made b-back then.. was _you???_ " Alphys cut in.

You nodded. "Pretty much. I mean, it was what my parents sprinkled my dust on, so... I guess the Determination injection was enough to revive what was left of my consciousness?"

"yeah... sounds about right." Sans muttered. "So basically, from between your stories, the reason for most of those timelines being consumed was the three of you, huh?"

You nod. Sans groans. You understand his feelings, a bit. He had been researching that phenomenon for years, only to find out that it was caused by a bunch of stupid kids. It was the scientific equivalent of learning that santa claus was just your dad in a red suit.

  


"A-alright so... l-let me try and get this straight from y-your stories, j-just to make sure, is that o-okay?" Of course it was, that's why you were here. The three of you signaled as much, and Alphys collected her notes and began to read.

"F-first, Chara d-didn't die because th-they got sick, but because they poisoned themselves... in a-an attempt to free all the monsters in the underground, y-yes? And it failed because Asriel c-couldn't bring himself to kill the h-humans when it came time to?"

Chara flinched a little, but nodded with you.

"Alright... t-then, during my experiments with DT, I ac-accidentally revived you as Flowey, right?"

"And since ya had no feelings or scruples combined with the ability to literally RESET everything, you went on a killing spree. Or three. Or ten." The scorn in Sans' voice was brutal, but you deserved it.

"After... t-that, Frisk fell into the Underground... and you couldn't use y-your powers anymore? But Frisk c-could instead?" Alphys asked.

Chara spoke up this time. "Technically? We couldn't SAVE of our own will, though. We _were_ able to SAVE all of you, but Frisk couldn't SAVE for themself? And I sure couldn't except when... well, that ~~**THING**~~ -" They stopped abruptly, shivered, and went back to hugging Frisk. You didn't blame them.

"mm. Right... which meant that every time the kiddo died, you both started over again, huh. That won't happen anymore, will it?"

"P-Probably not, actually." Alphys responded. "F-from my guess, RESET and SAVE are only possible with e-extreme amounts of DT, s-since normal humans can't do that, r-right? S-so... Frisk and Chara were... probably, sharing their DT somehow. I d-doubt either of you can SAVE or RESET anymore."

 _Wouldn't know,_ Frisk signed, _Haven't tried it. Don't want to._

"And you?" Sans asked, staring straight at Chara. They laughed the way they do when they're upset in response.

"Please," They said, their voice a few notches higher than usual, "Like I'd do _that_ to Frisk."

"Heh. Just checkin'." The skeleton replied, waving his hand. "Right, anyways, to get on with the topic at hand..."

  


"...What it all boils down to is the kiddo killed themself a lot to bring you two back to life, and now you're _all_ pretty fucked up, right?"

Wow, Sans. Way to put it as bluntly as possible.

"T-to be more sp-specific... going by, the m-materials I've been able to access on t-the surface... Frisk probably... has PTSD, even?" Alphys chimed in.

"Yeah," Sans grunted, "The kiddo has that, the stabby one is dealing with guilt and also scared of being taken over again, right?" Chara started laughing again. God, you kind of wanted to punch Sans. Then he looked at you.

  


"And you're the entire truckload of guilt, huh? Well, at least you're feeling it. Better than nothing, right?"

  


Alphys looked mortified. You, on the other hand, just looked down. He was completely right about you, and you knew it. You hated it, but you knew it.

"Annnyways," He continued, "You came to us for help 'cause the humans would think you were all nuts if you went to them, huh? Well... I guess it wasn't the wrong choice, but, you kids prolly... need some *real* help. Like, professional. Neither of us is *that* kind of doctor, though."

"You should, uh, probably tell your parents, first. I'm sure they can work something out."

  


You looked at the other two. Chara's face was frightened, but resigned. Frisk's was buried in Chara's shirt.

Honestly, you really hated how often this damn skeleton was right. But he was. "Alright... alright, we'll tell them. And Undyne. But -"

"-you're helping us," you said, pointing at Sans. "There's no way they'll believe us otherwise."

"That was kinda the plan, kid. We're the closest thing to 'someone capable of explaining this for non-time travelers', after all. Anyways... let's get going. This won't explain itself."

  


You all nodded as he stood up.

You saw Frisk and Chara's resolve in their eyes. You had to do your best to move forwards, too.

Even if it meant you woke up the next day. Screaming.

**Author's Note:**

> You've got to come clean about your problems if you want people to help you fix them.


End file.
